LAWSON — MOXOGRAPH OF EKICACEJi:. 75 



tions must be laid aside. His two primary groups are : 1st. 

 Phyllodoceas, with a firm closely adhering seed coat destitute of 

 wing-like appendages, flowers in the axils of the older uppermost 

 leaves. Phyllodoce, Loiseleuria, Kalmia. 2nd. Eu-Rohododen- 

 dre^, w^ith loose seed coats prolonged into wing-like appendages, 

 flower buds surrounded by scaly overlapping bracts, and usually 

 quite distinct from the leaf buds. Ledum, Menziesia, Rhododen- 

 dron. In the last mentioned genus. Azalea and Rhodora are both 

 merged, as the characters depending upon regular or irregular 

 corolla, separate or combined petals, number of stamens, annual or 

 biennial leaves, membranous or coriaceous, and presence or absence 

 of scales, are not available for generic distinction. 



The general features of distribution of these plants over the 

 globe were pointed out. They are social plants wherever they are 

 found ; they cover immense tracts at the Cape of Good Hope, the 

 species of that region being the beautiful forms known in our 

 conservatories as Cape Heaths. They are in other forms of the 

 same or closely allied genera, the characteristic plants of the 

 ** moors " and " heaths " of Northern Europe, " with their purple 

 blossoms rich in honey." They are in like manner the peculiar 

 vegetation of our Nova Scotian " barrens," producing rich flowers 

 in early summer time, and later in the season, furnishing a bountiful 

 sustenance to the furred and feathered game of the country, and 

 oflering to the rural population more fruit than they can either use 

 or sell. In Northern Asia they clothe the Himalayan slopes with 

 evergreen foliage and the gayest of flowers, and fill the atmosphere 

 with their too powerful odours. On the lofty mountains of South 

 America they creep as far up towards the summits as it is possible 

 for plants of any kind to exist. And in North America they stretch 

 from the arctic shores southward along the several ranges of 

 mountains, or step from peak to peak, over the w^hole continent. 

 It is in cold countries alone, and especially on the American con- 

 tinent that this order rises high in the rank of economic plants. 



The paper embraced a detailed description of all the species 

 inhabiting the Dominion, with full information respecting their 

 distribution over the region. By means of extensive series of 

 specimens collected by members of the Botanical Society of Canada 



